The present invention relates to internal combustion engines, and more particularly to improvements, to a method and apparatus for admitting a lubricating fluid into the existing lubrication system of those engines for prelubricating the engine before start-up to reduce wear on the moving parts of the engine.
Internal combustion engines depend for their proper lubrication to be already running. During start-up, proper lubrication is not immediately achieved since all the oil or lubricant in the normally provided engine oil galleries is evacuated by gravity action. After the elapsing of a period of time, the oil adhered to the slidable working surfaces, engine lubricating galleries, and parts, drains to the bottom reservoir or oil sump. This leaves the slidable working surfaces unprotected from wear during the next start-up. McDonnell Douglas has performed tests which indicate that up to 90 percent of the wear in an internal combustion engine occurs during such start-ups or dry-starts due to oil starvation. Other wear mechanisms account for substantial wear in engines. These wear mechanisms are attributed mainly to suspended solid particles and chemical contaminants in the lubricating oil.
Most prior art systems addressing this problem rely on activation immediately prior to and/or during starting of the internal combustion engine. These methods introduce inconveniences such as waiting for the operating cycle to occur, required operator action, and difficult installation. Such inconvenient time delay is irritating to the vehicle operator and in some prior art may even be dangerous should the vehicle stall and needs to re-start immediately. There still is the long-felt need to have a system that delivers the desired benefits automatically, without waiting, and easily installed. In addition, prior art does little to address the added benefits of removing solid and chemical contaminants from the lubricating oil in combination with their prelubricating functions, and the benefits of substantially reducing the time required to reach normal oil pressure immediately after start-up as a result of the present invention automatic priming. Such contamination contributes substantially to engine wear and physical degradation of the engine lubricating oil. Normally provided filters in automobiles remove suspended solid particles larger than approximately 25 microns. Introduction of a filter rated for much higher arrestance for suspended solids with the additional function of separating chemicals from the oil and cooperating with the present invention solves and additional wear problem not addressed in prior art.
Prior art devices are required to be larger and more complicated installations because they need to overcome the specification of quick on demand delivery of lubricating oil. The present invention suggests and discloses a method and apparatus with an automatic system which substantially delivers the expected benefits, with the unexpected result of no waiting time and inherent reduction in size and cost. Further, it addresses additional wear mechanisms by simultaneous removal of solid and chemical contaminants from the lubricating oil.
Some prior art depend for their performance on a compressed chamber of potentially flammable liquid inside a hot engine bay. Rupture of the holding chamber inside a hot engine bay will produce a fire and environmental hazard. For example, a preoiling system depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 2,736,307, which issued to Wilcox on February 1956, includes a high pressure pump for charging a reservoir with engine oil which is released by engagement of the starter switch. Another type of lubricating system, depicted in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,755,787 and 3,422,807, releases oil from a reservoir as the ignition is activated. A preoiler with a solenoid valve is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,556,070 and U.S. Pat. No. 3,583,525. A valve arrangement, depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 3,583,527, which issued to Raichel on June 1971, controls the charge and discharge of a reservoir of oil under pressure in response to the closing of the ignition switch. Another engine preoiler, disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,061,204, includes a valve arrangement in the base of an accumulator having multiple ports. U.S. Pat. No. 4,094,293 depicts an engine pre-oiler with a pressurized reservoir for containing engine oil. Yet another prelubrication device depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 4,112,910, shows a holding mechanism for a coiled power spring which is released on actuation of the ignition system whereupon oil in a chamber is evacuated. U.S. Pat. No. 4,359,140, which issued to J. Shreve on November 16, 1982, discloses an auxiliary engine oiler including a reservoir for storing a lubricant under pressure. Another approach is U.S. Pat. No. 5,156,120, which issued to Kent on October 20, 1992, discloses a system with an accumulator for holding lubricant under pressure and returning the lubricant upon engine start-up. Yet another prelubrication system, depicted in U.S. Pat. No. 4,703,727, which issued to Cannon on November 1987, shows a high pressure oil pump, controlled by an ignition switch and an oil pressure sensor, for supplying oil to an engine immediately prior to start-up. These systems introduce inconvenience, safety and potential environmental problems.
Another approach is to provide a prelubrication system such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,066,664, which issued to McNew et al. on December 1962; 3,722,623, Waldecker; 3,842,937, Lippay et al.; 4,157,744, Capriotti; 4,168,693, Harrison; 4,524,734, Miller; 4,502,431, Lulich; 4,834,039, Apostolides; 4,825,826, Andres; 4,875,551, Lulich; 4,893,598, Stasiuk; 4,936,272, Whitmore; 4,940,114, Albrecht; and 5,000,143, which issued to Brown on March 1991. Generally, these patents disclose supplementary oil pumping systems which inject oil into the engine immediately prior to cranking and/or start-up. Although these references partially address the problem of prelubricating the engine, there are many undesirable design drawbacks and unrecognized problems to such systems. Additional elements in prior art increase the complexity and costs of installation and maintenance of such systems, as well as the space requirements in an already cramped engine bay. Some have required original fabrication of at least some of its components. Consequently, the size, complexity, cost and problems associated with the installation and maintenance of such systems has prevented their widespread use in most vehicles. It is estimated that less than approximately 1 in 10,000 automobiles have an engine prelubrication system.
Another approach is U.S. Pat. No. 4,199,950, which issued to A. Hakanson et al. on Apr. 29, 1980, which discloses a system for prelubricating an engine during starting in the form of an atomized mist generated by a nozzle operating under high pressure conditions. U.S. Pat. No. 4,502,431, which issued to J. Lulich on Mar. 5, 1985, discloses an oil pumping system driven from the starter motor which generates oil pressure prior to start-up.
Another approach is U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,476, which issued to Schwarz on Mar. 23, 1993, discloses a system for prelubricating an engine by using the pump provided by the manufacturer as a means to pressurize the oil immediately before start-up, but at the expense of introducing undesirable wear and tear on the starting and electrical system, and inconvenience. U.S. Pat. 5,121,720, which issued to Roberts on June 1992, discloses a prelubrication system that operates upon the operator opening the door, with the problem of inconvenience, and unnecessary wear and tear of the apparatus due to false open door signals.
Yet another approach is found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,488,935 issued to R. L. Berry Jr. on Feb. 6, 1996, which discloses a single charge pressurized oil injection system comprising a pressure accumulator and a normally closed electromagnetic valve operated when the ignition switch is turned to the on position. Other relatively unsafe hydraulic accumulators have been provided in prior art which could be applied in the field of invention. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,300,722 to Adams et al. which issued on Nov. 1942; U.S. Pat. No. 2,394,401 to Overbeke; U.S. Pat. No. 2,397,796 to Lippincott; U.S. Pat. No. 4,769,989 to Oswald et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 5,197,787 to Matsuda et al.; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,013 to Helbig, which issued on February 1996, are illustrative of such prior art.
One recent approach to this problem is to introduce into the engine oil chemical additives which cling to the walls of the cylinders and other movable parts after the engine is shut off. These additives have questionable effectiveness and permanency, since their effectiveness is extremely difficult, if not impossible, to ascertain or verify. In addition, booster doses are needed periodically due to degradation and oil changes. However, the present invention cooperates and enhances whatever possible benefits of this approach by automatically and periodically delivering the treated oil to the required working surfaces.
Each of the noted patents deals with the dry-start problem in either an incomplete or ineffective manner, unsafe, potentially dangerous by way of holding pressurized combustible material inside a hot engine bay; or by way of complex, energy intensive, and costly apparatus due to real time on demand immediately prior to start-up requirements. Therefore, most prior art prelubrication systems supply oil to the engine parts, immediately prior to ignition and while the operator waits for the cycle to occur, introducing various undesirable and costly design trade-offs, and high levels of inconvenience to the user operator. More specifically, the mutually exclusive design requirements of reducing the cycle time prior to start-up at the expense of increased pump size, energy demands, and volumetric capacity. In other words, a pump or reservoir under pressure is unable to deliver the desired prelubricating functions instantaneously or in zero time. Therefore, the foregoing prior art references operating strategies are inherently inconvenient, or in the case of chemicals, hard to verify their effectiveness.
Accordingly, there has continued to be a need for a prelubricating system which is effective, simple, inexpensive to manufacture and operate, which is easy to install in an existing engine without major modifications to the engine assembly. A system which automatically and simultaneously cooperates in adding to its prelubricating functions the functions of engine lubricating gallery priming and removal of contaminants from the lubricating oil to further enhance the system wear reduction capabilities by addressing additional wear mechanisms. A system which enjoys favorable design trade-offs due to its method of operation, and more specifically benefits related to substantial reduction of size and hardware, and increased convenience. A system which is easily adapted to automobile production lines as an internal part of the engine due to its inherent size. A system which is safe to operate in a confined high temperature engine bay, and that delivers wear reduction and oil purification results automatically. A system that delivers the desired results automatically, by including unsuggested modifications in prior art. And more specifically, a system which performs its programmed operation without having the user wait a single moment immediately prior and independent of engine start-up or ignition switch, resulting in a system which delivers the highest possible convenience to its user operator.
The present invention solves the problems encountered in prior art arrangements with a lubricating system which is automatic, independent of startup time or occurrence, convenient and largely ignored by the engine operator. The system includes a pressure raising device having its inlet connected to a suitable point where a lubricating fluid is located, or immersed in the fluid to be pumped, or inside the engine to be protected. The lubricating oil is then pressurized by a pressure raising fluid delivery device or pump into the normally provided lubricating gallery of an internal combustion engine. Since the problem of dry startup is caused by the absence of oil after a suitable amount of time due to gravity action, the pressure device or pump is operated by an electronic controller, which controls the pressure raising device or pump to deliver an amount of lubricating oil to the lubricating galleries of the engine. Therefore, this keeps internal moving parts impregnated and substantially protected with lubricating oil to substantially reduced wear during the following or next startup cycle, and the engine galleries substantially primed with oil to greatly reduced the time to reach normal operating oil pressure upon startup. This operating cycle time is smaller than the time required for gravity to fully evacuate the lubricating galleries and internal moving metallic surfaces.
The mechanisms of wear in an engine are caused by the absence of oil from wear intensive surfaces during start-up, the time required to achieve normal operating pressure immediately after start-up, abrasion during engine operation caused by solid contaminants suspended in the lubricating oil, and chemical contaminants in the lubricating oil which attack metallic surfaces and degrades the protecting lubricating properties of the lubricating oil. The pump of the present invention is actuated for a predetermined duration by a solid state timing control device, solid state controller, programmable digital logic controller, adaptive controller, or electronic controller which automatically switches control power from the normally provided battery to the pump according to an operating cycle. The pump removes contaminated oil from the oil sump and delivers substantially purified lubricating fluid to the lubricating galleries in the engine. After the elapsing of a predetermined period of time, the cycle is repeated automatically. Therefore, this periodic action keeps internal moving parts substantially prelubricated at all times with purified lubricating oil prior to the next start-up cycle, keeps the engine galleries substantially primed or filled up to reduce the time required to reach normal oil pressure, flushes galleries of residual oil coking from post-shutdown residual heat, and removes solid particles suspended in the lubricating oil, and removes the chemical contaminants from the lubricating oil.
Accordingly, there exists a need for an engine wear reduction system which will reduce engine wear and will be simpler, less expensive, more space efficient, and more easily installed and maintained in existing and as an easily installed engine part in an automobile assembly line than prior art prelubricating systems.
It is therefore, a primary object of the present invention to provide an engine wear reduction system that, is automatic and independent of engine start-up or ignition switch activation, which includes unappreciated advantages and unsuggested modifications in prior art, that has all the advantages and the additional complementary wear prevention benefits from the function of priming, and has none of the unrecognized problems and undesirable design shortcomings found in prior art.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide an engine wear reduction system, that includes previously unsuggested modifications which automatically and simultaneously removes contaminants and suspended wear causing particles from the lubricating oil, that automatically primes the internal engine lubricating galleries with substantially purified lubricating oil, and that automatically prelubricates the engine wear surfaces with substantially purified lubricating oil.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an engine wear reduction system, that is automatic and does not require ignition switch activation or engine operator action immediately before start-up for its operation, in order to overcome the unrecognized problem of waiting and unsafe operation in prior art.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide an engine wear reduction system, that includes a commercially available solid state timing control device, programmable controller, or adaptive control element which stores or adapts an optimized pre-programmed operating strategy to maximize convenience, wear prevention functions, and to minimize system activation to increase the longevity of the system.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an engine wear reduction system, that is compact, modularly designed and manufactured from commercially available components, as a result of favorable design trade-offs, having as a result a compact modular timed pump unit.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an engine wear reduction system, that solves the unrecognized problems of installation and unfavorable design shortcomings related to single function, inherent larger size, larger energy demands, oil volume variations, and added hardware of prior art devices.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide an engine wear reduction system, that has favorable design trade-offs and synergies, and the unrecognized advantage of a low cost of manufacture with regard to both material and labor, and which accordingly has the advantage of low price of both sale and installation to the consuming public, thereby making such engine wear reduction system economically available to the buying public.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an engine wear reduction system, that is safer and more environmentally responsible when compared to prior art which utilizes a pressurized oil accumulator in combination with an ignition switch controlled electromagnetic valve immediately prior to start-up.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an engine wear reduction system, that is a more easily installed engine part in an automobile assembly line due to the unexpected results of its operating strategy and the resulting previously unappreciated advantage of its inherently smaller number of parts, readily accessible connection points, and physical size than prior art prelubrication systems.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an engine wear reduction system, that requires for electrical connection only one pair of wire means, which does not require connection to the ignition switch or other dash installed switch, and that leads to a more easily installed and safer device.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an engine wear reduction system, that is a more compact and easily installed accessory in current and older motor vehicles due to its inherently smaller number of parts, number of easily accessible connection points, and physical size than prior art prelubrication systems.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide an engine wear reduction system, that automatically primes and flushes oil residues from post shut-down residual heat oil coking from the walls of the internal lubricating galleries of said engine with substantially purified lubricating oil to reduce wear by substantially reducing the time required by the engine to reach normal pressure immediately after start-up due to priming and keep them clog-free over the long-term due to flushing.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide an engine wear reduction system, that is easily available to the buying public and through its adoption on a large scale will contribute to the enhancement of the environment by making engines run more efficiently, avoiding waste of national resources, and deferring the use of natural resources.
Further objects of the invention will appear as the description proceeds and claims drawn. To the accomplishment of the above and related objects, this invention may be embodied in the form illustrated in the accompanying drawings, attention being called to the fact, however, that the drawings are illustrative only, and that changes may be made in the specific construction illustrated and described within the scope of the appended claims.